Falling over hatstands while falling for you!
by Maia Tamashii
Summary: The story of how Tonks and Remus fall for each other right from when Tonks first gets asked to join the Order of the Phoenix! Please review folks! Muchas gracias! To all reviewers, I have really hectic university work right now, so please bear with me!
1. Chapter 1 The Night Owl

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the characters aren't mine, much as it distresses me. –weeps a little- They belong to the wonderful JK Rowling. -

_This is set just before Order of the Phoenix, and it'll have HBP spoilers likely, so watch out! _

**Chapter 1 The Night Owl**

Nymphadora Tonks groaned and scrunched up her eyes at the tapping sound coming from her bedroom window. Within seconds, her head had disappeared underneath a huge purple and gold pillow, her hands holding it firmly over her ears.

_-Tap tap tap-_

_-Tappity tap tap-_

_-Tappity tappity tap tap tap-_

_-TAP TAP TA-_

'OK already!' The young women sat up groggily, her short lilac hair standing on end, made worse by her tired hands running through it. She brought one hand down to rub her eyes, before turning on her bedside lamp, blinking. Finally, she reached over her matching purple curtains and pulled them aside, where her suspicions were confirmed.

'Not a Night Owl…..what have I done?'

Night Owls were usually reserved for serious matters that couldn't wait until the normal daytime owl post – or, indeed to inform wizards and witches of any trouble they might be in. The Ministry of Magic had taken to using huge barn owls for this purpose, due to their excellent night vision, however their large white faces were quite a startling sight for someone who has just been woken.

Tonks, having just been woken, was naturally a bit surprised to see the large owl staring in at her from her rain lashed window. Finally, as the owl went to give the window another hard tap with its sharp beak, she shook herself a little and pulled the window open to allow the owl to enter.

It flew in silently, circled the cramped little room in a few swoops, and, seemly contented with something, settled on the bedside cabinet, teetering precariously next to the lamp. The young witch rubbed her eyes a few times and blinked, before twisting round to pull closed the window, which was by this point allowing in a rather bitter wind along with leaving damp splotches of rain on her dishevelled duvet.

Tonks turned to the owl, apprehension filling her. Why was she receiving a Night Owl? As far as she was aware, she hadn't done anything worthy of serious punishment….But no! The Vase! Tonks shuddered.

The incident with the ancient antique enchanted vase last month had been an accident; how could she have known there was a permanent sticking charm on the base? When she'd tried to move it to a new spot where she thought it would look better, her most powerful lifting spell had contrasted horribly with the sticking charm – the force of pulling it upwards with the charm keeping it down had caused the whole vase to shatter into thousands of pieces. She'd been horribly sorry, she'd been trying to help, but her boss in the Auror office, Samuel Flitchworth, didn't really see it that way.

'Nymphadora, we both know that anything remotely domestic should not be attempted by you! And that includes you trying to remodel the Auror office! If we had wanted that vase moved, we would NOT have placed a permanent sticking charm on its base, now would we? Do you have any idea what that vase was!'

Flitchworth, who was already a rather unfortunate shade of puce, had now become puce with a delightful purplish hue around his cheeks. His grey eyes bulged from his face as he waited on a response from Tonks.

'Em….no sir, I thought it was…well, really just a bit of an eyesore really….I had no idea it was something special…..'

'AN EYESORE!' At this, Flitchworth had raised at least a foot off the floor so as to be eye to eye with Tonks.

'Nymphadora, that vase…..' he took a deep breath in a feeble attempt to calm himself.

'That vase belonged to Ardena Nimblefoot, one of the first, and quite possibly one of the best, Aurors the Ministry of Magic ever had.'

At this, he raised an eyebrow at Tonks, as if expecting to see a flicker of recognition in her eyes. However, she remained static, her eyes wide and fearful as she listened to her boss. He sighed, and continued.

'She received it as a gift from the Woodland Pixies of Devon, whom she single-handedly saved in the historic Devon Wood battle between the Pixies themselves and the Marsh Sprites who, having a slight height advantage, had attempted to conquer the Pixies' sacred land with the killing of many innocents. It was a terrible time, the Devon Pixies were a peaceful kind, they did not believe in weapons or violence, why, if it hadn't been for the intervention of the Wizarding world and Ardena's courage, there may have been no Pixies in Britain today.'

'Oh…..Oh, I think I might know what you're talking about! There must have been a class in History of Magic about it…..'

'I should bloody well think so! You young Witches and Wizards just have such disregard towards your heritage; there have been so many great magical people in the past! It's disgraceful that you all know so little about it…..Anyway, the Vase! That vase was handmade by those pixies, and they put a very powerful enchantment on it.'

'Sir….Mr Flitchworth….if you don't mind me asking, what exactly was the enchantment?'

'Well Nymphadora…..' Flitchworth coughed slightly. 'The enchantment put on that vase ensured that those in its presence would always have…sufficient food and water…that they would never starve or suffer great thirst.'

Tonks looked a little confused. 'This….well, this isn't exactly a third world country is it?'

Flitchworth looked affronted. 'Back in the days of the Battle, there was a great amount of famine and drought in the area! Witches and Wizards all around were weakening due to it, why this Vase was a gift from Merlin! So many people wanted it that it had to come to this very room for safekeeping, where it has remained until now!'

Flitchworth finally floated back to the ground and looked up at Tonks, expecting to see her realisation of the extent of her actions. However, instead he saw a rather relieved expression on her face.

'What….how….why are you looking relieved?' spluttered Flitchworth.

'Well, lets be honest Sir, it's not like its enchantment is useful now, is it? I mean, London doesn't really have a famine, and as for drought, well….see for yourself.'

Flitchworth had glanced out the enchanted window which was streaming with rain, mirroring the weather outside.

'Nymphadora! It is HISTORY! A piece of living history! Ardena Nimblefoot will be turning in her grave…..'

At this, he had shook his head, and made to leave, however not before telling to Tonks to get the mess cleared up and sharp.

Naturally, Tonks had realised she had gotten off lightly. Which made her all the more sure that the Vase incident had to be the reason behind the Night Owl….he must have reported her….

Ashen faced, she turned to the white barn owl sitting patiently in front of her, suitably convinced that she was now no longer an Auror, and would have to wander about as a lost cause forever…..

She blew out the breath she'd been holding, causing a few strands of her vibrant lilac hair to fly upwards, before coming to rest again on her forehead. The owl hooted softly, reminding Tonks that he was still holding the letter, and that it was his job to ensure that she read it. Trembling slightly, the witch leaned forward and detached the piece of parchment held on the owl's left leg. She squeezed her eyes shut while unfurling the tightly curled letter, before opening her eyes to read its contents.

_Dear Tonks, _

(Tonks? Surely the Ministry of Magic wouldn't refer to her as Tonks?)

_Sorry to send this by Night Owl, I probably had you thinking you were going to lose your job or something! No indeed, this is quite the opposite, although it is a matter of some urgency hence the late delivery. _

Tonks breathed a huge sigh of relief, feeling like an enormous boulder had just been removed from her shoulders. But if it wasn't the Ministry of Magic…what was this all about? She read on.

_I would like to offer you a position. Well, that's probably not the best way to put it, there's no need for you to leave your job in the Auror's office. This is perhaps more of an extracurricular activity, although one with slightly more responsibility than the Gobstones Club. _

_You are perhaps aware that at present there is much debate over the return of Lord Voldemort._

Tonks shuddered involuntarily at seeing that name before her.

_I am more than aware that the Ministry of Magic is doing everything in its power to discredit those who claim he is back. But I can assure you this here and now: Voldemort is back. The Ministry is wrong. And this is a very dangerous situation, because it could leave us all open to his evil deeds with no defence. However, I and a selection of other like minded witches and wizards, are not about to sit around and do nothing. Therefore we have formed an Order; I cannot state the name at present for fear that this may have been intercepted; an Order consisting of those of us who believe that we are all indeed under threat and something must be done._

Tonks stopped for a moment to take in what she had just read. Voldemort was back? Of course she had heard the rumours, but most saw them as a lot of paranoid rubbish. But Nymphadora Tonks was not like most. The boy Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore himself were the two main advocates to his return, and she did not see them to be unreliable sources. Therefore it was true to say that she had had her doubts as to the Ministry's stance on this issue. The question was in this case, how did this 'Order' involve or indeed require her?

_And it is here that you come in Tonks. At present, we are not a large band of witches and wizards. And we lack much of the knowledge and skills that you Aurors have. So it with this that I ask you to join us in the Order, so we can protect those under threat such as young Harry Potter (I am sure you will have seen the Daily Prophet's attempts to continually discredit him, I assure you this is rubbish) and of course the Wizarding world in general. I understand that you may have doubts, but your talents are greatly needed- I would not have written to you if I did not believe that you would want to help us. Please give your response to this owl, who will return it to me. I cannot sign off with my name as I am at present a wanted man, but I hope that if you look back in your childhood you will realise my identity._

_Yours, _

_Padfoot_

Tonks' eyes opened wide. Padfoot! Of course, it had to be…..she'd heard that he'd narrowly evaded capture at Hogwarts…but was he not, indeed a murderer? She frowned. Sirius Black may be an older cousin, but he had been sent to Azkaban for murder. And as an Auror, she did not take this conviction lightly. But she had also known Sirius, and his friendship with those he was supposed to have betrayed, before killing all those people. It had seemed so unlike him, so out of character, just something she would never have dreamed he would do. Sirius was one of the few members of the Black family who had NOT chosen to stray over to the Dark Arts, although after hearing of his arrest, she had simply assumed he had bowed to the pressure and joined the rest of his family. But there was always a part of her that wondered, that had doubts. Maybe they'd got the wrong man? Even though she knew as well as anyone that Sirius had been the Potter's secret keeper, something seemed out of place. Tonks hadn't thought about the incident, or indeed Sirius, for a long time now. But this letter, which was quite obviously from him, brought the issue back to the forefront of her mind. She frowned slightly, and stood up from her perch on the edge of her bed, stretching slowly. Her mind was a cauldron of thoughts, each swirling and spiralling in different directions, producing odd and varied results. But one concept was becoming the most obvious factor – why would Sirius be asking her to join an Order _against_ He Who Must Not Be Named, if he was, as was the commonly held belief, one of his greatest supporters?

Tonks began to pace the small room, which was packed with piles of large, leather bound spellbooks randomly scattered about, as well as strange collections of newspaper articles in which the occupants of photographs waved, or in some cases leered out of the paper. Brushing aside a small bundle of these cuttings, Tonks took a seat at a small oak desk, and pulled out a piece of parchment and a well worn eagle feather quill. After filling it up with ink, she began to chew the tip of it, trying to come to a decision. It could be a trap, there may be no such Order, and Sirius may actually be a madman. But somehow this didn't add up in Tonks' mind. She had known Sirius, perhaps not so well once he left school, but while she did know him, she knew he hated He Who Must Not Be Named as much as everyone else.

A small hoot from the patiently waiting owl reminded Tonks that Sirius had requested a reply. She bit her lip thoughtfully, and finally decided to go with her gut feeling. She's always thought there was something not quite right about her cousin's conviction, and for some, perhaps slightly reckless reason, she chose to believe him. Maybe it was gut instinct, or maybe just a deep desire for something exciting to happen, Tonks didn't know. But somehow she found herself writing –

_Yes, count me in._

and signing it with a flourish.


	2. Chapter 2 Don't Cry Over Spilt Ink!

**Disclaimer **– Harry Potter and his chums aren't mine but this wee story is. Et c'est tout.

_Mara 152 – Thanks for reviewing! It's always kinda scary to do your first real fanfic so it makes such a difference to get some feedback! -_

_Anyway, It's a dark and dismal night outside so I've got nothing to do. Good time to write chapter 2! Enjoy! And please review; it makes me a happy little camper. No flames cause I'll cry. Mwahaha_.

**Chapter 2 - Don't cry over spilt ink!**

Tonks put down her quill, and bit her lip again, she was beginning to feel a groove forming there from the amount of times she'd bitten it in the last hour. But this time it wasn't from fear or apprehension, it was a sense of excitement. She'd put her name on the paper, and as far as she was concerned, there was no turning back now. As she carefully rolled up the parchment and attached it to the owl's leg, she absentmindedly pondered her reasons for agreeing to this, something she knew so little about. Her mind was still wandering when she accidentally knocked the little vial of ink off her desk and onto her pale lilac carpet.

'Bollocks….' she muttered to herself while bending over to inspect the damage. The ink was now dispersing itself in what would have been an almost attractive pattern had it not been soaking into her carpet.

'Not to worry!' she said brightly, to noone in particular, although the owl gave a soft hoot in response. Tonks leaned over to her bedside cabinet and opened the drawer, where her wand sat on top of a pile of old pieces of parchment and a few spare quills.

'Scourgify!' she whispered, pointing her wand at the unfortunate mess on her floor. No sooner had she finished saying the charm than the stain disappeared. Carefully placing her wand back inside the drawer, she looked up brightly.

'Where was I again? Ah! The reply! Sorry owl…..'

The poor owl had been standing patiently on one leg while waiting for the rather clumsy young witch to attach her response to his leg. She finished tying the knot and looked at the owl gravely.

'This had better not be some kind of trap, owl. I'd hope you were smart enough not to take part in such things!'

The owl cocked his head to one side as if in understanding, and gave another soft hoot. Seemingly contented with this, Tonks hopped up onto her bed and reached across to the window, pulling it open. Instantly, she was lashed with the bitter cold wind and rain, and took one hand away from the latch to wipe the drops of rain from her bright blue eyes.

'On you go then, come on! It's freezing with this window open!'

As if in agreement, her body gave an involuntary shiver, and she noticed her bare arms were covered in goosebumps. At that, the owl hopped onto the bed, ruffled his feathers and soared out of the open window.

Tonks watched the owl as it disappeared into the night, her eyes blurring over as she realised she hadn't blinked since the owl left. Opening and shutting her eyes a few times to clear them, she pulled the window shut and dove straight back underneath the duvet, pulling it tight around her to generate some extra heat. Only once she was happily warmed up, did she return to her previous question – why exactly was she doing this? It was risky, what if it interfered with her job as an Auror? But then again, wasn't that was being an Auror was all about? Saving people's lives and fighting against evil. She certainly hadn't had the chance to do much of that recently, all that she seemed to do in the Auror office these days was paperwork, perhaps that was some kind of punishment for the vase incident.

She sighed inwardly. One of the only things that was going on in the Auror office these days was the search for Sirius, which was headed by Kingsley Shacklebolt, and to be quite honest, noone seemed to be making any headway. It was obvious why Flitchworth hadn't put her on that case, she'd overheard him talking to _his_ boss, Rufus Scrimgeour, about her, and both had obviously felt it was best that she didn't work on a case involving a relative. And as the Ministry of Magic wasn't taking Dumbledore and Harry Potter's claims of You Know Who's return seriously, there really wasn't much to be done at the moment.

Maybe that was why she'd said yes to that letter. Maybe she just needed to feel like she was DOING something for once, actually physically DOING something, rather than just whiling away the hours at work reading memo after memo, signing page after –

Tonks didn't get a chance to finish that thought, because at that very moment, there was a loud POP and two figures appeared in her room, one of whom almost fell flat on his (if indeed it was a he) face after apparating onto her spilt ink vial. This brief distraction gave the rather terrified young witch a chance to throw open her drawer and grab her wand. By the time the two men (it had become apparent by this point that this was what they were) had steadied themselves, she was sitting bolt upright, wand pointed at the two intruders, her expression steeled.

However, neither of the two men seemed to have noticed her defiant stance. In fact, they both seemed to be shaking. Shaking quite uncontrollably. Tonks frowned a little. Had she put a hex on them without even knowing it? She peered forward to see if she recognised the effects only to realise that they weren't cursed at all. In fact, almost the complete opposite. The two men were bent double, shaking in peals of laughter.

'Ok, now this just takes the biscuit! I don't know who you are, but what in Merlin's name gives you the right to apparate into my room, frighten me half to death, and then just stand there laughing your ruddy heads off? Eh?'

Tonks was now kneeling on her bed, one hand on her hip with her other hand still firmly on her wand, a rather indignant look on her youthful face. As the two men began to straighten up, she realised that neither of them had a wand in their hand, in fact, apart from the fact that they were two random strangers apparating in out of nowhere, they didn't seem particularly threatening.

Finally, one of them gasped and managed to speak –

'Obviously haven't apparated in a while Moony old mate!'

'Well, no, it's not really my preferred form of transport – but that's got nothing to do with it! There's a bloody ink vial on the floor! Nearly killed me!'

At that, the two men burst into peals of laughter again.

'Ok, that's it.' Tonks turned on the bedside lamp. 'Who are you, and what do you……Sirius!'

The first man had looked over at her, his rather gaunt face illuminated by the lamplight.

'Tonks!'

He seemed for a second almost surprised to see her, before finally coming to his senses and straightening up. He cleared his throat, and nudged his friend, obviously encouraging him to sort himself out too.

'Well, Tonks, sorry about this! We didn't intend to be quite so….well, hysterical. But you will leave ink vials lying on the floor!'

'I didn't exactly expect anyone to be APPARATING onto it, did I?' muttered Tonks, too quietly for them to hear.

'And also, I think we sort of assumed you'd still be up and about, what after such an exciting preposition.'

'I WAS awake, actually, but you certainly didn't waste any time getting here, I only sent that owl back about 10 minutes ago.'

'Well, you see our Headquarters isn't far from here, so we didn't see the point in wasting any precious time – Merlin's Beard! I haven't even told you who my clumsy associate is yet!'

Tonks' vivid blue eyes moved from Sirius to his companion who she could now see more clearly in the light. He was older than her, perhaps around 35. He was also quite good looking; although his light brown hair was flecked with premature grey and he looked like he needed to sleep for a month. He was wearing a rather shabby looking travelling cloak, and looked like he needed a good meal. She felt a flicker of recognition as she looked at him, hadn't he been one of Sirius' mad friends from when he was at Hogwarts? But she couldn't for the life of her remember his name.

'Tonks, this is Remus Lupin. (_'Of course_…' she thought.) Remus, this is Nymphadora Tonks.'

'And I'll put a very unpleasant hex on you if you EVER call me Nymphadora.'

She smiled sweetly.

'It's Tonks. Just Tonks.'

The other man just nodded, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Yep, she remembered him. Not quite as loud as the others, but just as cheeky.

Tonks brought her gaze back to rest on Sirius. She had, by this point, put her wand down, and was now sitting on the edge of her bed, suddenly very aware of the fact that she was wearing her ancient and rather faded Weird Sisters t-shirt, which was quite possibly 14 sizes too big, but as it had been the only size left in the shop (and she didn't dare try to put a shrinking charm on a precious Weird Sisters t-shirt) she had decided it would do as pyjamas. She flushed slightly and stared at the carpet, before reminding herself that she, Tonks, was an Auror, and had no need to be embarrassed about her attire. She straightened up defiantly.

'So…..what exactly brings you here at this time of night that couldn't wait until the morning?'

'Tonks, just in case you hadn't noticed, I happen to be a highly wanted criminal right now. It's not exactly practical for me to go wandering the streets of London during the day. Besides, it's important that we get you to the Headquarters ASAP.'

'WHAT? Now! But it's the middle of the night! I'm in…..well, you know!' she gestured towards her attire.

'Night is the best time to take you there. There won't be any muggles out and about likely to see us, and you'll need to find your way there yourself next time. And as for your clothes….'

Tonks noticed Remus, out of the corner of her eye, stifling a laugh into a cough. She shot him a glare that could kill and he steadied his face instantly, although she was sure she could still see laughter in his eyes.

'Look Tonks, we'll turn around while you get changed, and make it quick please, because there's a lot we have to tell you.'

'You're telling me….' she muttered under her breath.

She sighed in defeat and pulled one arm out from her t-shirt. However, she stopped halfway through on realising that neither man had turned around.

'Hey! I'm getting changed! I would like to think I have a shred of decency left, at least give me that! And don't even THINK about peeking!'

'Tonks….' Sirius sounded disgusted as he turned around. 'You're family! How could I?'

'Yeah, but Remus isn't. Just don't.'

And with that, the two men suitably chastised, Tonks went to the wardrobe at the end of her bed and grabbed the first things she could lay her hands on; a pair of dark blue jeans and a huge crimson woolly jumper, one of the comfiest and warmest things she owned.

'Are you ready yet?'

'Yes….well, I'm decent if that's what you mean.'

Tonks glanced at herself in the mirror which was attached to the wardrobe door. She liked the outfit, she personally thought she looked lovely and snugly, but her hair….well, the lilac didn't really go with the crimson. She concentrated hard, and pictured herself with longer blonde hair (blonde went with everything when you were in a rush) and when she opened her eyes, she indeed had long blonde hair, which she instantly tied back into a messy ponytail. The young witch suddenly became aware of the fact that Remus was staring at her like she…..well, like she'd just changed her hair in a second. She whirled round to face him.

'I'm a metamorphmagus, in case you were wondering. I can change my appearance at will. It's quite a useful gift you know, don't have to worry about anything when it comes to disguising myself, plus well, you know, it makes life a little more interesting to be able to change what you look like now and again, doncha think? And the lilac and crimson….well, it just wasn't working.'

She smiled at him, and his confused expression turned into a smile to mirror hers. She felt herself flush unnecessarily – she was rambling. She often did that when she got nervous; she just opened her mouth and let her belly rumble. What did Remus care about whether lilac and crimson matched? Idiot. Having given herself a mental slap on the back of the hand, she walked over to the bedside cabinet and picked up her wand again.

'Right then Sirius, let's go.'

'Ok then! We'll need to apparate out of here, so you know the drill, we're going to Grimmauld Place-'

'Um…Sirius?'

'Yes Tonks?'

'I've never been to Grimmauld Place.'

'Yes, and?'

'Well, if I've never been, how can I imagine it as my destination?'

'Valid point. Ok, well you'll need to apparate with Remus- lets just hope he can do it without falling this time...' he sniggered and Remus shot him a look.

'Just grab his arm and stay close, it isn't far anyway. And then…well, I'll explain everything. Including why I'm not actually a criminal.'

'Well, I'd guessed you weren't after the letter….but yes, some extra information backing that claim up would be nice.'

Tonks raised an eyebrow at her second cousin before walking over to Remus Lupin, who, up until now had been rather quiet. She went to grab onto his arm, but for some reason felt herself stop just short of catching hold.

'Don't worry Tonks, I don't bite!' he said, and both he and Sirius burst out laughing. Tonks looked from one to the other, completely lost.

'What's so funny?'

Remus managed to catch his breath.

'Nothing, nothing, never mind us idiots. Anyway, grab my arm, we'll need to be going.'

He grinned at her, laughter still evident in his smile, a smile which lit up his whole face, making him look years younger. Tonks was captivated by this effect, and only after a second too long did she realised that she'd been staring at him. _Amazing the effect laughter and smiling can have on someone…_she thought, her face reddening at being caught staring. But before she had any time to dwell on it, she felt Remus' hand grab her other arm, and then she felt that all too familiar sensation of apparating, feeling like she was being squashed so much that she would surely burst, and then, always, at the point where it almost became too much, she was standing on a dimly lit street, looking at a row of houses directly in front of her.

It was a few moment before she realised she hadn't released poor Remus from her grip; she'd never been a huge fan of apparating, and having had something to hold onto, she'd been rather reluctant to let go. However, she now did so, and proceeded to wander over closer to the houses in front of her. Well, these weren't really houses, more like mansions; although they seemed a little run-down, and poorly kept.

'Which one is it then?' she asked the two men in front of her.

'Here. You'll need to use this.' Remus passed Tonks a small piece of parchment which held the following words:

'_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London_.'

Tonks peered at the piece of parchment, and then glanced up to look back at the houses in front of her.

'But there is no-'

Remus cut her off.

'Yes, there is no number twelve. At least at the moment. It's had a very powerful spell placed on it, where noone can see it unless they are told where it is by the person who put the spell on it. And that it who the parchment is from.'

He took the parchment out of her hands and set it alight with his wand.

'Now just think about what you just read.'

Tonks did as she was asked, and almost instantly, she saw another mansion appearing from in between numbers 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place. It seemed to appear from nowhere, squeezing itself in and pushing the other two houses aside to make room for it, before coming to a halt as a fully formed building.

'You see? There it is Tonks. Number twelve Grimmauld Place, home to the Order of the Phoenix.'

And that's chapter 2! Hope you like it, I had a bit of a larf writing it! Please review, it makes me a happy wee person! –jumps about-


	3. Chapter 3 Rats and Hatstands

**Disclaimer:** Yes, Harry Potter and co aren't mine, but I think maybe you knew that.

_Thanks for reviewing folks! It really gets me going to write the next chapter. _

_Slightly so – Don't worry about that, she's only trusting him so far, after all she has a wand and he doesn't! That'll be dealt with in this chapter._

_Anyway, I'm just back today from a wee trip to Dundee to see my friend who has a flat there so I'm too tired to go out tonight, just gonna sit here in my dressing gown and do some writing!_

**Chapter 3 – Rats and Hatstands**

Tonks scratched her head slightly while looking at this new house, dislodging a strand of hair from her already rather messy ponytail.

'That's one powerful spell….'

'It is,' spoke up Sirius. 'It was a very powerful wizard who put it on too….'

Tonks turned to face him, a frown on her face. A powerful wizard? Suddenly she was reminded of exactly who she was standing with, and who he was supposed to be in league with. So far she'd taken him on his word, not to mention the apparent lack of wand….but now….did she want to go in there without more proof? She had to know more.

'What kind of powerful wizard? Someone I might have heard of?'

Sirius detected the not-very-subtle trace of sarcasm in her voice, as well as the look on her face.

'Well, yes, it is actually. And no, as you may be implying, it certainly isn't You-Know-Who. I don't really think he'd be helping out a group of random witches and wizards out to stop him in his tracks.'

Tonks chewed her now slightly ragged lip and looked her second cousin over. Obviously, he had a point. But now here she was, standing in the middle of a Muggle street with two men, one of whom was an escaped criminal and the other who was….well, to be honest, not particularly threatening. The presence of Remus Lupin was a confusing one. He was by no means a criminal, she would surely have known of it through her job. She also knew him to be an old friend of both Sirius and James, surely, if Sirius had indeed done what everyone said he did, Remus would not be in his company voluntarily?

Tonks groaned inwardly. Why couldn't she have had this conversation with herself before agreeing to come here?

_You're far too reckless Tonks…life may be pretty boring right now, but running off with a known killer isn't really a very good idea. Think this through first! Get the story from him!_

Tonks sighed. That was exactly what she should have thought. But noooo….too late for that. But suddenly, she looked at the two men, who were both looking at her expectantly, obviously waiting for her next move.

_You're an Auror! Deal with this stupid situation you've got yourself into! Neither men have wands in their hands…_

At this thought, Tonks gripped the wooden wand in her pocket tightly and proceeded to look up at Sirius.

'Ok. I realise I've been a little…..too trusting here. Sirius, you've given me no proof except your word that you're not a criminal, and yes, I know that by coming this far I've taken you on your word. That's the kind of person I am. I give people a chance, a chance to show me that they are what they say they are. But I'm not about to commit myself to something, something big, without the truth. So I just can't enter Number Twelve without you telling me….what really happened that night. The night You-Know-Who was defeated. Not to mention all those people that you supposedly murdered. You may be family Sirius….but…..'

The young witch pulled herself up to her full height and looked straight into his eyes, which had not left hers the whole time.

'Remember. I may look like I wouldn't hurt a fly, but I am an Auror. I am highly trained in combat, so any funny business, and I assure you, you'll come off worse.'

At that, she stopped, and looked pointedly at Sirius. He and Remus looked at each other and nodded, before Sirius took at step towards Tonks. She instantly felt her hand tighten around her wand, but at the same time, she heard a small voice in her head-

_His hands are front of him, he has no wand…_

She felt her hand relax its grip, and waited for what he had to say.

First of all, he surprised her by smiling.

'I wondered when this would come. And I wouldn't worry about looking bad because you didn't ask sooner, you are a very trusting person Tonks, always have been, but only when you have reason to trust. You wouldn't have come along in the first place if you'd had major doubts. But I do agree, if I was in your position I would need more information before getting any further in.'

He looked around, aware of the fact that they were standing in a well lit street in the middle of London.

'Listen Tonks, I'll tell you now because I know that's the only way to get you to come into the Headquarters with us. But we MUST be quiet and be quick, because this isn't exactly the most private of places to talk.'

Tonks nodded her currently blonde head firmly and allowed him to step over closer to her. Sirius gave a deep sigh before beginning.

'Tonks, I did not tell Voldemort-' (a shudder from Tonks) '-about the Potter's whereabouts. Because _I _was not actually their Secret Keeper.'

Tonks frowned in confusion.

'How could you not have been? Everyone knew you were after what happened, in fact, is that not the reason why Peter Pettigrew stood up to-'

Sirius smiled sourly.

'A common misconception. You see, I felt that I was too obvious as the Secret Keeper. So I switched with Pettigrew.'

Tonks' eyes opened wide, soon joined by her mouth as she went to speak. But Sirius had no time for that.

'Noone knew except us. Of course, I couldn't have known that Pettigrew was in fact in league with Voldemort. So of course, he went straight to him to inform him of their location. And when I found out about this, I hunted him down. _I_ confronted _him_ about what had happened, not the other way around, as everyone thought. He killed all those Muggles in a bid to escape, leaving behind that bloody finger that freed him from any blame. But I knew it was him, and even as I sat in Azkaban, I swore I'd find him. Luckily for me, I came across a copy of the Daily Prophet with a very nice clear photograph of Peter staring out at me.'

Tonks went to speak again, but she was silenced by Remus this time.

'Peter Pettigrew was hiding as a rat, Tonks. He's an animagus, although only us Marauders knew.' He shot a glance at Sirius as if asking his permission for something, which was obviously granted as he continued.

'Sirius, James and Peter are….well, sadly in James' case _was, _animagiThis isn't really the time to explain why, but the time will come to tell you. Anyway, as I said, Peter has been hiding in his rat form all this time, living with a wizarding family who kindly and obviously unknowingly took him in as a pet. He had been living with the Weasley family. And-' he said, silencing Tonks again with an outstretched hand,

'And, Sirius broke free from Azkaban to find him. I was teaching at Hogwarts at the time this all happened, and although I, like you, needed convincing, I saw proof that Peter Pettigrew was indeed alive, and realised that Sirius had been framed. Therefore, he is an innocent man.'

Tonks stood silently for a moment, taking all of this in. She looked at Remus, and he looked straight back at her, his eyes never faltering, never leaving hers. He wasn't lying; she'd had some brief classes in Legilmency while in Auror training, but she didn't even need that here. It was plain to see from his eyes. Still, something else was bothering her.

'But what about Peter? Where is he now? Surely the fact that he's still alive would prove your innocence to the whole wizarding world?'

Sirius smiled sadly, with a glance to Remus, whose face was twisted with a mixture of anger and sadness and guilt, though for what reason Tonks couldn't begin to guess.

'Unfortunately, Pettigrew got away that night. But not before Harry Potter - my Godson – and his two friends, oh, and of course Moony here, heard the whole thing. So they alone, as well as Professor Dumbledore, know the truth, and of my innocence. Well, and now you and the rest of the Order. So that's the truth Tonks. And if you need any more proof, I'll tell you the name of the wizard who put the spell on this house. It was Professor Dumbledore himself. If that's not a testament to my innocence, I don't know what is.'

Tonks again stood still, silent. Her mind and her heart were racing, but no longer from fear. It was a mixture of emotions, excitement, nerves, but most of all, relief. Her favourite cousin was innocent. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had wrapped her arms around Sirius, and was hugging him tightly.

'I believe you, I believe you….I always wanted to….I'm so glad….'

She finally broke away, slightly embarrassed from this dramatic show of emotion. But it had been a very stressful night so far, and she never had been very good at keeping her feelings under wraps. She took a step back from the now smiling Sirius, to see Remus watching the scene with a slight smile on his face, a stark contrast from the look of pain he'd had only a few minutes earlier. His eyes met hers and he smiled a little more – Tonks felt her face grow hot.

_I look like a typical overemotional female now…brilliant. This guy's totally getting the wrong impression of me_..._well, ok, maybe not the –wrong- impression, just a kinda one sided impression…come on Tonks! Harden up!_

At that, she cleared her throat and spoke.

'Well, am I getting to see this Headquarters tonight or what?'

------------------------------------------------------

Remus led the little group up to the front door of the house, before pulling out the wand which he had had no need to use until now. He tapped it lightly against the lock while whispering an incantation, casing the door to creak open slightly when he pushed it. Tonks heard Sirius whisper to her from the darkness -

'In you go Tonks, after Moony. Just stick close behind him and watch out, it's pretty dark in there. Oh, and try to keep things to a whisper!'

'Yeah, ok! No problem!' Tonks took a few steps and found herself inside a rather dark and dismal hallway, her fingers traced over an intricate serpentine carving on the nearby table. She could hardly see her feet in front of her, so she gave up looking for them and chose to focus on following the slightly old and patched travelling cloak of Remus. They obviously had to be quiet for a reason, maybe everyone was sleeping. It was almost….well, she had no idea what time it was. But it was a pretty unholy hour. Tonks focused her eyes again on Remus' cloak. Just as she was feeling her eyes glaze over a little, he turned, almost causing her to walk right into him.

'Just watch,' he whispered, while walking just slightly in front of her, his head turned to speak to her. 'There's a hatstand here that you probably won't be able to see unti-'

Until what, Tonks had just found out. She had managed to catch her foot rather unceremoniously on the offending hatstand and was now waving her arms around madly trying to regain her balance, before finally losing it completely and tumbling towards the floor, her hands flailing out of protect herself. However, Remus, having seen her trip, reached out gallantly to save the poor tumbling witch, catching her around the waist.

'Don't worry Padfoot! I got her!' called Remus, perhaps a little too loudly, as Sirius began making mad waving motions with his arms, obviously intended to warn his old friend to lower his voice. However, Remus seemed not to notice, and continued to call to his friend, if anything, his voice getting louder.

'Just as well she didn't hit the floor eh? That would definitely have woken up your bloody mother!' Remus looked down at Tonks, who was somewhat ungracefully draped over him, her arms having grabbed hold of the first thing they caught, which happened to be his neck. He grinned at her, seeing the mortification on her face.

'Don't worry, no harm done! Got you just in time, last thing we want to do is wake-'

'FILTHY MUDBLOODS! CHILDREN OF FILTH! SHAME UPON MY FAMILY! HOW DARE YOU POLLUTE THIS SACRED HOUSE WITH YOUR STENCH!'

Tonks quickly unattached herself from Remus, her face still a dazzling shade of beetroot, but now her attention couldn't help but be drawn to this hideous portrait of an old decrepit woman, who was now shouting no end of abuse at them. She was suddenly aware of both Sirius and Remus running over to the painting, both of them hurling rather unpleasant comments back at the painting while as quickly as possibly pulling over the curtain which had originally obscured it from view. Finally, after what seemed like quite a battle of wits, they succeeded in their task and returned to Tonks, Remus looking rather sheepish. Sirius turned to face him, an exasperated look on his face.

'…I was making the hand motions at you! Couldn't you see?'

'Well, no, not really. It is pretty dark in here in case you didn't notice. Besides, I was too busy being a gentleman and saving Tonks here from a painful collision with the floor!'

'But still….you know what my mum's like!'

'Your mum?' interjected Tonks. 'Of course…..I thought this place looked slightly familiar, that is from what I could see. I think I visited you here once… I felt that serpenty thing and I knew.'

'Serpernty thing? Is that a technical term?' Remus was grinning at her, even in the dark she could see the mischievous glint in his eyes.

'So what if it is?' she fired back at him, unable to hide the smile in her voice.

_Well_ he's_ starting to come out of his shell _she thought, smiling to herself. This whole Order thing might be fun after all. Thinking of the Order though, she grimaced. Surely that little spectacle must have woken the whole place? What a first impression to give. Sure, it hadn't been her fault entirely, but if she hadn't tripped in the first place, he wouldn't have had to catch her…. (which was nice of him, even if she had half strangled him….)

She had obviously been standing thinking about this for too long, as both Remus and Sirius were staring at her like she was mad. Sirius leaned forward and peered at her closely.

'Tonks, if you keep chewing your lip, you'll have nothing left. And we really don't want to have to send you to St Mungos on the first day you join the Order over a missing lip!'

'Exactly,' Remus agreed, 'If we're going to have to send you to St Mungos, we'd rather it was because of a much more courageous battle wound than a missing lower lip! Where's your battle pride?'

Tonks looked at both of them, as if trying to decide if they were being serious. Regardless, she just _couldn't _take that statement seriously, and burst into peals of laughter.

Almost as though her laughter had been a cue in a play, a door opened behind them, and a female voice called out in as loud a whisper as possible;

'You two! You didn't tell me she was here! The poor girl won't have a clue what's going on! I knew I should have gone to collect you….'

The owner of the voice; a rather plump small woman with vibrant red hair; stepped out of the door and walked briskly over to Tonks.

'I'm Molly Weasley dear. You must be Nymphadora Tonks?'

Tonks opened her mouth, but was beaten to it by the combined voices of Remus and Sirius.

'Tonks. Just Tonks.'

Tonks closed her mouth again; getting the impression she'd just been poked fun at. However, she turned towards the motherly looking women in front of her and smiled.

'Nice to meet you Mrs Weasley'

'Ah, just call me Molly, dear. Now, you must be starving, we're all sitting in the kitchen waiting to meet you, I'll get you something to eat. Ah yes dear, don't worry about Mrs Black, none of us were sleeping anyway. I really do wish we could get that thing down, but the old bat seems to have made sure there's a permanent sticking charm on it.'

Tonks smiled. She knew all about permanent sticking charms.

_Well folks that's chapter 3. I'm really tired now so I'm going to go to bed….hope you like it! I'll write more soon I promise. Please review, for reviews are splendid. _

_- _


	4. Chapter 4 The Werewolf

**Disclaimer:** Hezza P and all his chums aren't mine, they belong to Madame Rowling.

**To my reviewers: **

**Thank you so much for reviewing! **

_Dreamy-crazygirl – Don't worry, I wasn't too terrified by the guitar threat lol. I'm glad you think it's cute, I love cuteness! I'm a total cheese-fest, I love gooey stuff! Mwahahaha!_

_I'm totally on a roll with this story lol, I'm stuck at work in a supermarket behind the customer service desk and it can be really boring at times. (Well, loads of the time) so I just kind ponder what to do next in my wee tale while I'm meant to be looking like I'm working. And when I make wee notes on my pad, people think I must have very important work-like things to do. So my boss doesn't ever ask me if I have anything to do…-cackle-_

_Anyway, on with the tale! It's gonna move a bit faster now that we're getting into stuff that's happened in the book!_

**Chapter 4 – The werewolf**

Two months had passed since Nymphadora Tonks had joined the Order of the Phoenix, and her life had certainly taken a turn for the more exciting. Although she still went to her daily job in the Auror office, she had discovered an unlikely companion there in the shape of Kingsley Shacklebolt, whom she'd originally thought saw her as a bit of an typical newly qualified type. Of course, that was before she discovered he was actually in the Order. Naturally, neither of the two showed any extra interest in each other at work; it would seem rather suspicious if two people who'd hardly known each other started talking all the time. Still, it was nice to know he shared her secret, and when she saw him, it always reminded her of the important work she was doing.

As for the rest of the Order, well, they were indeed a mismatched crew, but one who she admired greatly. She learned of the original Order of the Phoenix, and how some of the present members had fought against He Who Must Not Be Named before; in fact, she was one of few new members, something she felt very proud of.

At the present moment, she was sitting at a large wooden table in the kitchen of the Headquarters. She looked around her fellow members and felt a warm sense of belonging, in such a short space of time, these people had become so dear to her. She smiled and leaned back in her chair to stretch, only to find herself lying flat out on the floor a split second later, to floods of raucous laughter from the Weasley twins.

'Oi! Whatcha think you're playing at!' Tonks jumped up, pointing her wand at the offenders.

'Hey hey! No need for wands ma'am! We just thought….what with you looking so relaxed there…..'

'Yeah, we just thought maybe a nice little lie down would do the trick!' finished George.

'FRED! GEORGE! What have I TOLD you only about a million times recently? Just because you're ALLOWED to use magic now doesn't mean you can use it to play tricks on people! Poor Tonks could have really hurt her back there! Honestly!'

Mrs Weasley was standing facing the two boys, her hands firmly planted on her hips, her face flushed with annoyance.

Tonks threw a glare at the twins before turning to smile at the red faced woman.

'I'm ok Molly, really. They can't help being immature I suppose, they are MALE!'

Of course, this comment automatically drew a lot of mutters and grumbles across the room, due to the fact that the majority of its inhabitants were indeed male.

'That's a bit of a generalisation, is it not Tonks? I mean, surely we're not all that bad!' smiled Remus, trying his best to look innocent.

'Hah!' she snorted, 'you can be just as bad as them. I saw you and Sirius sneaking down here last night to 'sample' Molly's famous fudge cake!'

Mrs Weasley gasped. 'So that's what happened to it! I thought we must have some Warples in here! I suppose it's better that I was wrong…but really Remus….I thought a little better of you!'

'Not of me?' piped up Sirius indignantly.

'No Sirius dear, not really. That's EXACTLY what I'd expect of you.'

Sirius pretended to look wounded.

'Anyway, not to worry, there's plenty left! Who wants some?'

There was a resounding chorus and a display of greedy hands all shooting up in the air. After a few minutes, everyone was happily tucking in to the cake.

Suddenly Tonks heard Ron Weasley muttering to his rather bushy haired friend Hermione Granger, who Tonks had gotten to know while visiting the Headquarters regularly.

'Harry would love this….he loves mum's cooking….when we gonna get him anyway?'

'I don't know Ron, it's really not up to us….' whispered Hermione, looking around nervously.

Tonks frowned.

'Hey everyone, Ron here's got a point. When _are _we going to get Harry? It's a bit off leaving him stuck at his Aunt and Uncle's 'specially if they're as bad as you say! Plus, I want to meet this kid!'

A few of the older members of the Order exchanged glances, but before they could say anything, Sirius spoke up.

'I've been saying that for a while Tonks, but not everyone here is of the opinion that he should come here.' He frowned. 'But to be honest, I think he'd be perfectly safe, I mean, there's always someone from the Order around, in fact most of the time there's lots of us here.'

Remus nodded.

'He's right; it is getting to the point where he needs to be here. Besides, I'll bet he'd love to see everyone, especially you Sirius.'

Tonks looked around, trying to understand who all of this was directed to. It was obvious they weren't really telling this for her benefit. She turned her head at the sound of a sigh, a sigh of defeat, coming from Mrs Weasley.

'I suppose…I mean, I feel he'd be safer at the Dursley's, but since we are all going to be here….'

Sirius jumped out of his seat in triumph.

'Right! I'll go get him right now!'

'No Sirius! No. I'm so sorry, but there's absolutely no way _you_ can go. You're still a wanted man; even the Muggles know to look out for you.'

Sirius sat down, his face fallen. But he knew she was right.

'Besides, we can't just go raining down on Privet Drive, we need to think of a way of getting Harry out while his Aunt and Uncle aren't there, because I doubt they'll be very helpful.'

Tonks half closed her eyes for a second to think. 'Is there no way to, well, lure them out of the house? Obviously it'd be a lot easier to run in and get him if the Muggles weren't there….'

A harsh, ragged voice now entered the conversation, belonging to Mad-Eye Moody, an ex-Auror who, although occasionally being a little extreme about things, Tonks had a lot of respect for.

'It'll need to be a realistic reason. We can't run any risk of the Muggles realising it's from Wizards, otherwise there's no way they'll take it seriously. And I don't want us to arrive to find they've not actually gone, you never know who they could tell about us.'

Remus Lupin smiled slightly. 'I do agree it needs to be realistic and Muggle-like, but I doubt they'd go running to tell You Know Who if they saw us, they like to pretend the Wizarding world doesn't exist. They'd be more likely to try their hardest to pretend the whole incident wasn't happening.'

He laughed.

'From what I'd have heard about them, they'd just _love_ it if a bunch of witches and wizards in cloaks came storming up their perfectly manicured lawn….'

He raised an arm lazily to scratch his head. 'We need to get them away from the house for a day, that's for sure…..any ideas Tonks?'

Tonks' eyes opened wide and she felt a blush hit her cheeks as everyone turned to look at her.

'Wha….me? What makes you think I'll know what to do?'

Without realising it, she pouted slightly, which Remus instantly noticed and tried to cover up his amusement.

'I'm sorry Tonks, I just thought you had a good imagination, and isn't your Dad a Muggle? Thought you'd be the best person to know.'

This time Tonks felt her face heating up for a different reason. Why did Remus have so much confidence in her? Inside, she realised she was feeling just as warm as her face. _I have to come up with something good now_;_ I can't let his trust in me be wasted…_

Suddenly, she heard one of Remus' previous comments repeat itself in her head.

'The lawn! They're totally house-proud, right? How about I send them a letter through Muggle post telling them they're shortlisted for like….I dunno….The 'All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn' competition or something.' She grinned. 'And the prizegiving ceremony just happens to be the day we go and get Harry,' she added slyly.

'Fantastic Tonks! That's a great idea! cried out Sirius. 'They're obsessed by that lawn, completely, back when I was wandering around Privet Drive as a dog, I must have seen that Dursley man out trimming the sides of it at least a dozen times. Sad really! That's bound to work….they wouldn't miss that….' He laughed loudly at the thought.

Tonks couldn't help but smile, secretly feeling very pleased with herself. She was just enjoying this feeling when she became aware of being watched, when she glanced up she saw Remus looking at her, he looked somewhat surprised to see her looking back. But he caught himself in an instant and winked his 'well done' at her, before turning to talk to Sirius.

It was now Hermione's time to pipe up. 'When will you go then? It's only fair we get him soon! He must be going crazy stuck up there, and besides, me and Ron are fed up with Hedwig pecking us to pieces cause we can't send proper replies to his letters!' She looked down at her heavily bandaged fingers.

Tonks thought for a moment. 'Well, I'll need to write the letter, but that shouldn't take too long. And it'll need to go through Muggle post, I don't know how fast that is, so we need to give some time. How about…..not this Saturday, but the next?'

There was a brief moment of murmuring, and then Remus spoke up. 'Ah….no, no I don't think that Saturday is going to work for me really. How about….later in the week?'

There was a split second of silence, before everyone else began to agree with Remus.

'Yes, I think you're right, Saturday isn't such a good idea…..maybe Wednesday?'

'Mmhmm. Yep, Saturday, nope, no good. Can't do that.'

'I like Wednesday, how about we go with Wednesday?'

The young witch followed the chorus of agreements around the table, her confusion growing with each reply. 'Erm…if you don't mind me asking, I'm a little confused. What's the big deal with Saturday? It would be better if this kind of thing was done at the weekend…..are you doing something that day Remus?'

'Well…ah….well, you could say that, yes, I will, most unfortunately, be doing something.'

'At night though!' piped up Ron, and everyone at the table shot him a look that could have burned a hole in him.

'What's going on?' Tonks wailed. 'This isn't fair, I'm quite obviously being left out of the loop here, I'm in this Order! Why is something being kept from me? What's everybody's problem?'

'Well,' began Remus, 'It's not really everybody's problem. It's more….my problem.'

'His furry little problem,' added Sirius.

'What problem?' pressed Tonks. 'Stop talking in riddles!'

Remus sighed, his head bowed, before looking straight at the frustrated young witch.

'It's a full moon that Saturday, Tonks. And I'm a werewolf.'

Tonks felt a little like that time she'd been kicked in the stomach by a rather rebellious hippogriff. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she went to speak, but managed to recover herself in the nick of time.

'Is that all?' she joked. 'And here's me thinking it was something big you were keeping from me.'

She forced herself to paste a fake pleasant smile on her face; she wasn't feeling up to arguing. She was hurt, really hurt – she didn't care about Remus being a werewolf –well, ok, that was a lie. Of course she cared, she wouldn't inflict that on anyone, let alone someone she'd grown to like as much as him. But what she was really hurt about was the fact that he'd kept it from her. Something as major as that! Everyone else had known. And she'd felt like he was really beginning to open up to her. But obviously she'd read him wrong….The witch now felt a new emotion bubbling up inside her – embarrassment. Why should she have expected him to tell her? She must have been imagining that they'd been getting closer. He'd probably been seeing her as an annoying kid the whole time, no wonder he kept it secret. She swallowed, trying extremely hard to fight back the lump of hurt and embarrassment now forming in her throat.

Using her porcelain doll smile as a mask, she stood up from the table, pretending to stretch and yawn.

'Ah well, I'm really tired. I think I'll head to bed.'

Suddenly, she caught sight of Remus' face, and realised that her sudden decision to go to bed looked horribly like she was disgusted by the fact that he was a werewolf and wanted to get away from him. If only he knew it was something so different! But all the same she couldn't leave him thinking that, two wrongs didn't make a right. She took a deep breath, again pushing down the ever growing lump, and turned to him.

'Honestly, I am tired. I don't care that you're a werewolf, in fact I knew a friend of a friend who was a werewolf, nice guy, well, most of the month. Anyway, bed. Night!'

She smiled at everyone with a false brightness, she could feel the lump rising and she knew if she didn't leave now she'd make a scene. So, turning on her heel, she sprinted out of the room, and ran up to the second floor where a room had been made hers.

---------------------------------------------------

The table downstairs remained quite silent for a few moments after Tonks' departure.

Finally, Ron spoke up. 'You know, I think she might have been lying about being tired…..'

Hermione groaned. 'Really, you think Ron? Honestly, you can be so dense sometimes!'

Ron opened his mouth to protest, but was beaten to it by his mother.

'Remus…' she sighed. 'I really wish you hadn't asked us to keep this from Tonks…'

'I didn't! I only asked you not to….tell her straight out. I didn't really think it mattered….if she'd guessed and asked, you didn't have to lie!'

Molly frowned. 'That's really just technicalities, Remus. You didn't want her to know, it's as simple as that. And I don't really understand why, because you know none of the rest us of took the news badly.'

'I know, I know.' Remus closed his eyes and massaged his aching temples. 'She was…ah, I don't know. This sounds ridiculous, but she was someone I got on well with, she's easy to talk to, and I suppose I was worried that might change if she knew the truth.'

'You thought she wouldn't like you if she knew you were a werewolf? Come on now Moony.' Sirius leaned across the table to speak to his old friend. 'She still liked me even though she had no proof I wasn't a convict!

'I know, you're right. I didn't really think it through, I just thought maybe…I could just never get round to telling her.'

'She was always going to find out, Remus,' Molly said gently, and reached out to touch his arm lightly. 'Maybe you should go and speak to her; I think she needs to hear all this from you.'

Remus winced. 'I'm not really good at stuff like that….'

'Just explain! That's all you need to do. On you go now….'

------------------------------------------------

Tonks went to slam the door shut behind her, but caught it quickly as she realised she'd told everyone she was fine. After closing it over silently, she paced around for a second, breathing fast. She had to do something, anything, if she didn't she'd just allow herself to be upset, and she knew she was stronger than that. Doing the first thing that came to her head; she went over to her desk and picked up a quill and piece of blank parchment. Might as well make a start on the letter to the Muggles….

'_Dear Mr and Mrs Dursley,'_ she began.

'Good start,' she muttered under her breath. But before she could get down to any more creative genius, there was a soft knock on her door. She sighed inaudibly; to be honest, she'd known this was likely to happen.

'Tonks….it's Remus. Can I come in?'

She chewed her lip, before taking a deep breath to steady her voice.

'Yeah, ok.'

Remus pushed the door open gently, and stood in the doorway looking sheepish.

'You can come inside the room, you know,' Tonks shot at him, instantly regretting her harsh tone.

He sighed, and moved in, closing the door behind him. Moving over to sit on the edge of the bed, he cracked a few fingers nervously before finally looking up and meeting her eyes.

'I'm sorry Tonks, I should have told you,' he sighed.

'No no, that was up to you. It's a personal thing; it's your call who you confide in.'

He smiled slightly. She really did have the wrong end of the stick.

'Tonks, it has nothing to do with not wanting to confide in you. It was actually….well, to be honest, your opinion is important to me, and we were getting on so well….I just assumed that you'd start to distance yourself from me once you knew the truth, you know, talk to me less, be in my company less, that kind of thing.' His tired face was troubled.

'I knew you'd never be rude about it, but it's happened to me a lot in the past. It's not the obvious prejudices that hurt the most, it's the ones from people who you know just can't stand being around you, but would never say it to your face. That's a horrible feeling.'

'And you thought I'd be like that.' Tonks responded, bitterly.

'No…well, I supposed I just assumed….' His face looked sad, realising his mistake.

'Well, you know what they say about wizards who assume, don't you? They make an ass out of u and me.' She was smiling slightly now.

Seeing this, Remus decided it was safe to smile back. 'I had a feeling you weren't the same as any of the other young, successful witches and wizards I've met…'

Tonks instantly felt her heart lifting, relieved to know that his reasons for not telling her didn't really have anything to do with not liking her. In fact, more the opposite.

'Of course I'm not!' she replied, smiling widely. 'I'm unique!'

She winked at him playfully, happy to see how relaxed he now looked.

However, a small frown crossed his face, indicating there was something bothering him.

'Just promise me this though Tonks. Don't get around me when it's a full moon. I don't know what I'd do if I ended up hurting you. I'm dangerous; I can't control myself when I'm like that. Just promise me, ok?'

Tonks nodded firmly. 'I promise. Now, fancy helping me write this letter?'

_Et voila! That's all for today! I'll be writing more soon though, I'd intended to put more into this chapter but I like to keep them all round about the same length, so I'll move on in the next one. _

_I'm going away to Spain for a month next Sunday so although I'm hoping to have maybe one or two more chapters up before then, after that it'll be a while before there's anything new! But I'll plan some stuff out while I'm there, I've got plenty of ideas buzzing about!_

_Thanks for reading folks, please review and let me know what you think! Adios!_


	5. Chapter 5 Beware the WolfGirl!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Mr Potter or anyone involved with him. And that's it.

**Les Reviewers: **_Thanks again for reviewing! I need reviews to make me keep writing, it just doesn't seem worth it if noone reads it! I hope you're enjoying it!_

_Mara- It's hard work keeping it weaving with OoTP cause I need to keep looking at the book to see where I am and what happened next! I'm bound to muck up sooner or later…lol_

_Lurker – Thanks very much! That's nice to hear considering this is my first real fanfic._

_Dream Crazygirl- Thank you so much for keeping up reading this! I'm glad you like it so much, I'll do my best to write more before I go. And hopefully I'll have loads of ideas for when I come back!_

_Blue eyes at night – I think I'm good at fumbling responses lol, maybe cause that's what it's like inside my head…hehe._

_Anyway, not much to say today, so I'm just gonna batter on with the story!_

**Chapter 5 – Beware the Wolf-Girl!**

It had been over two weeks since Tonks sent the letter to the Dursleys through Muggle post, and the Order had been pretty busy in that short amount of time. There had been meetings every night to discuss plans; although Voldemort was keeping a low profile, they had managed to find out a very vital piece of information – he was after the Prophecy. It was this they were discussing on Sunday night, the week before they were due to go and get Harry.

'There's no way at all that we can let him get a hold of the Prophecy. Dumbledore has made it more than clear to us that if he knew what it held….'

Sirius looked forcefully at Molly Weasley.

'We just won't let it happen. There's no point thinking what _could_ happen, we just won't let it happen!'

Molly seemed to shake herself mentally, and nodded firmly at Sirius.

'Of course, you're right Sirius. After all, we do at least have a plan of action here, with the guard we're set up.' She looked around at the listening faces around her. 'Does everyone know their particular shifts?'

A chorus of 'yes' and a variety of nods answered this question. Tonks allowed herself to think for a moment, about her shift this week. She was to guard the door to the Department of Mysteries on Wednesday night; the shifts had been split between a variety of those in the Order, although only those who had non-suspicious access to the Ministry of Magic. Since she worked there, it was easy for her to get in at night, she simply said she had extra paperwork she wanted to do. (A downright lie, she noted, the thought of extra paperwork made her shudder.) However, those such as Molly, Sirius and Remus couldn't really do shifts. Speaking of Remus…..

'Hey,' she spoke up, interrupting Bill Weasley, who was naming some suspected new followers of Voldemort. 'Where's Remus?'

She was answered by Sirius. 'Last night was the full moon, Tonks. He's sleeping it off I think, feeling a little worse for the wear! I was gonna try and drag his sorry ass down here but Molly insisted I let him sleep….' He shrugged.

'Oh come on Sirius, the poor man's had a tough night. This isn't anything he can't catch up on!'

Sirius grinned. 'I know that, I just like to annoy him.' He winked at Tonks, at seeing the look on Molly's face.

Tonks grinned back at him, but for the remainder of the meeting, she couldn't help but think about him, stuck upstairs in his room. It must be awful to be a werewolf…..she thought about how it must feel to change like that, your body mutating, gaining huge, long fangs, to sprout hair all over…to-

She was suddenly aware that the meeting had gone silent, and when she broke out of her daydream, she realised a few members of the group were smothering laughter, while looking at her.

'What? Watcha all looking at!' she scowled.

Arthur Weasley coughed slightly and indicated the mirror behind her with his left hand. She got up, and looked into it, and burst out laughing herself. She had been thinking so much about what it must be like to turn into a werewolf, that, being a metamorphmagus, she had accidentally given herself a snout-like nose, bright yellow eyes, two prominent fangs, and a rather generous smattering of brown fur.

'Oh I gotta let Remus see this! This'll cheer him up!' The young witch grinned at the rest of the group, who, following this little disturbance, had decided the meeting was at an end.

Sirius laughed. 'Good luck waking him up…..'

Tonks jumped up the stairs two at a time until she reached the floor she knew Remus was sleeping on. Once she got there, she began to tiptoe along to his room, before knocking gently on his door. After trying a couple of times with no answer, she turned the handle slightly, and was pleased to find it opened easily. An evil grin passed her rather scary face. Seeing a figure curled up in the bed, she crept forwards to the side of it, crouching down beside the small bedside cabinet. Finally in position, she looked over the edge at the person sleeping inside.

Her eyes immediately widened in surprise and concern. He looked so ill! His face was devoid of all colour, in fact, it was almost grey. And he didn't seem to be at peace at all, his hair was all askew as though he had been tossing and turning, and his face was caught in a frown; he was obviously having some kind of bad dream. She fought hard against her instinct to reach out and hug him, make him feel better, but she blushed at the thought. He'd think she was some kind of weirdo. Mind you…looking like this, was he likely to think anything else? She suppressed a giggle, remembering her reflection in the mirror. That's a better way to wake him up….she thought, grinning to herself.

'RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!' she howled, jumping onto the legs of the sleeping man.

'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' he yelled, sitting up suddenly, and, catching sight of the 'monster' perched on his legs, yelled again.

'AHHHHHHHHH- Tonks! TONKS!'

But Tonks couldn't speak. She was completely doubled over with mirth, shaking uncontrollably.

'Your face…classic….nearly wet yourself….' she spluttered. 'Waaahhaaaahaa…where's a camera when you……aahhhhaaaa!'

Remus had just started kicking his legs underneath her, obviously trying to knock her off the bed. She managed to look up at him, her eyes watering with laughter. His face was grinning, and certainly had a lot more colour than before. Concentrating, she focused on changing herself back to something normal, well, more normal. Just as her hair became long, pale blue and wavy and her eyes even brighter blue, she realised too late that he'd taken her moment of concentration to his advantage and shaken his legs more than her balance could handle.

Before she knew it, she was in her familiar situation of arms flailing in the air, trying to regain any form of balance, but it was too late, she landed smack bang flat on top of Remus. Now it was his turn to laugh, she could feel the vibrations through his chest…. '_Serves me right I suppose_…' she mused. '_Hold on…vibrations…through his CHEST! Jeez women! Stop throwing yourself on the poor guy!_'

With a bit of a struggle, she managed to lift her head, and found herself inches from his grinning face. Her eyes widened, and she could feel her face heating up at she scrambled off of him.

'Blue….hmmm….nah, I liked the she-wolf look better.'

She glanced up at him, desperately trying to look cool, calm and collected. Clearing her throat in what she thought was a confident manner; she dusted herself off and stood up.

'Yeah well, I thought you might like that. Didn't expect you to scream like a baby though,' she added, with a smirk.

'So would you, if a mad wolf-girl jumped you while you were peacefully slumbering!'

'Ach, I just wanted to wake you up. I like to be original, that's all.'

Remus whimpered. 'Isn't a man allowed to sleep? I've just had a full moon, I'm tired!' But he was smiling at her. 'Actually, I think that fright shook the last of the exhaustion out of me.'

Tonks opened her mouth to speak, but Remus silenced her by putting his hand over her mouth.

'And before you say it, that doesn't mean it's ok for you to come in and terrorise me every month!'

The look in Tonks' eyes said that she was pouting, and he laughed and withdrew his hand.

'You're some witch Tonks, you really are….'

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A week later, it was time to go and get Harry. The Order were seated around the large kitchen table, watching carefully as Mad-Eye Moody demonstrated his Plan to them.

'Ok,' he said gruffly, pointing at the device he had stuck up on the wall. It resembled a medium sized blackboard; however, when he pointed his wand at it, stick figures appeared on broomsticks, with little names underneath them.

'This is the flying formation we're going to adopt. You can see your position here. Once we have Harry, he's going to fly here-' he pointed his wand at a position on the board and a new figure appeared, hovering slightly on its broom.

'We'll stay in this formation for the whole journey, DO NOT break ranks!' he barked. 'For NOTHING! The boy's safety is paramount.'

He then turned to his board again, this time, a point of his wand resulted in one of the little flyers disappearing from the formation.

'If one of us get attacked and gets killed, the rest of us keep flying. DO NOT break ranks! If we all die, then the reserve guard will take over, I'll make sure Harry knows where to fly to.'

By this point, he had snuffed out all of the little figures except miniature Harry, who was now flying solo.

'Does everyone understand?'

'Erm….Mad-eye…. What exactly are the chances of every single one of us being knocked off?'

Moody turned to face Tonks, both his eyes narrowed on her.

'Noone knows. But you can't take ANY chances!'

Tonks cast a glance at Remus, who gave a slight shrug, and a half smile back at her.

'Right then everyone! Let's get Harry!'

Soon enough, the rather strange looking group were standing at the front door of the Dursley's house. As Remus unlocked the door, she overheard Kingsley muttering to Sturgis Podmore.

'Lets hope the Muggles got that letter….otherwise this could get ugly….'

Tonks felt her nerves rising, if they were indeed still here, then it would be partially her fault for not writing a more convincing letter.

However, there was no need for nerves; it was soon clear that the house was deserted. Well, apart from Harry.

'Where d'you think he is, anyway? Surely he won't have gone with them?' pondered Tonks, not at all quietly.

'Ah, Tonks! Keep your voice down!'

'Ooops….sorry Mad-eye….hey…what's this? Is this….Oooh! I think I learned about these! It's a ket-'

CRAAAASSHHH!

'Gah! Oops….'

Tonks grinned sheepishly. 'Ah well, we need him to know we're here anyway!'

'Ever the subtle one, eh Tonks?'

Tonks spun around to face Remus, while poking her tongue out at him in a highly mature fashion.

Suddenly, Sturgis held out his hand to quiet them all.

'I think I hear him….lets go into the hall.'

The rather large welcome committee traipsed as quietly as possible into the small hallway at the bottom of the stairs. Looking up, Tonks saw that a figure had appeared on the landing at the top, but it was too dark to make him out.

She vaguely heard Moody call up to the boy, but she was too preoccupied with trying to look him over – finally she got sick of it.

'Why are we all standing in the dark? _Lumos_!'

The tip of her wand immediately lit up, giving her a clear view of the young boy standing at the top of the stairs. Raven black hair, bit messy, bright green eyes, oh, and of course that scar….

'Oooh….he looks just like I thought he would!' She grinned up at him. 'Wotcher, Harry!'

After Moody had insisted on some security measures (such as whether Harry was really Harry) Tonks bounded up the stairs to help the rather surprised wizard to pack. As he led her to his room, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was pretty young, only about 15; it was amazing to think of all the things he'd been through. And she, Nymphadora Tonks, must help to protect him. She was puffing out her chest, feeling a bit important, when she caught sight of herself in Harry's mirror.

'_Jeebus! Do I really look that pale? Blech…_'

Needless to say, Harry seemed a little surprised when, after asking his opinion on her lilac hair, she promptly changed it to vivid pink.

'Can you learn how to be a metamorphmagus?' he asked, once she had finished explaining her odd skill. She looked at him, and tilted her head to one side. There was a look in his eyes….her own eyes travelled up to his scar, the thing that had made him so famous.

'Bet you wish you could hide that scar sometimes, eh?'

The boy nodded, and she began to realise why Remus was so fond of him. Because of that scar, he couldn't really have a normal childhood, and that irritated her. She'd had a great childhood, and although she had a dangerous job now, she'd chosen that life. He hadn't.

Suddenly, she realised he was looking at her like she had grown another head….she'd been staring at him. '_Merlin's beard Tonks, Remus is right, you really are subtle…_' she noted to herself sarcastically, finally remembering why she was there, and helping Harry to pack.

Before long, the mismatched bunch of witches and wizards, along with Harry, began to make the journey back to Grimmauld Place. Harry had originally been over the moon at the thought of travelling by broomstick- and what a broomstick! He had a _Firebolt_! Tonks was mad with jealousy- but that elation faded as the freezing cold air began to seep in and around the bones of those flying, leaving them so chilled that it took all they had to just keep hold of the broom.

Moody's suggestion of doubling back on themselves was instantly dismissed, as it became apparent that Harry was wilting, and wouldn't be able to fly much longer. Luckily for him (and to the relief of the others) they arrived finally in front of the spot where soon would be twelve Grimmauld Place.

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It was certainly an eventful night that night; Tonks was rather impressed by Harry's powers of persuasion as he managed to get quite a lot of information out of the Order. However, by the time Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George went to bed, the atmosphere in the room was quite tense. Molly had been very unwilling to give the children as much information as Sirius had done, but Remus had agreed that they needed to know, and so indeed they had been told. Now, however, she was looking suitably unimpressed.

'I just don't see how they needed to know all of that.'

'Molly, Harry isn't a child anymore. He needs to know what's going on; it affects him more than any of us!'

'But it's such a huge burden for him to carry!'

'He's dealt with a lot already, he can handle it.'

'But we are his guardians! Doesn't that mean anything? We need to shield him from things like this!'

'If I may Molly….' broke in Remus. 'I think we both know that had we not told him this tonight, he'd have heard it through the Extendable Ears. And only bits and pieces of the truth. I think, overall, that would be worse for him.'

Tonks, who had remained quiet throughout this, allowed herself to glance at Remus. '_He's such a good pacifier_,' she noted. '_Always manages to take the tension out of situations…_'

Molly sighed. 'Maybe you're right, Remus. I just…he's still so young….'

'I know. We all know that. That's why we'll do everything in our power to protect him. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm shattered….I'm off to bed. Besides, unless I am very much mistaken, we've a cleaning mission to continue tomorrow!' Remus' eyes were twinkling as he stood up, and pushed his chair in after him.

Her eyes feeling heavy herself, Tonks found herself agreeing wholeheartedly. She couldn't even be bothered apparating home, so, after offering to help Molly with the dishes (Molly politely declined her help) she trudged up to her room, and promptly fell asleep.

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_Well, that's chapter 5! I had intended to cover more ground there but I always end up getting sidetracked and adding wee stupid bits that mean it would be far too long if I kept going. So I'll just have to move on in the next chapter!_

_Please review folks; I just discovered that I've had over 1200 hits, but only 12 reviews_..._-sniffs- It's not hard to press a wee button and type a few comments! It really inspires me to keep writing. I really appreciate every review I get, so pleeeeaaaasssseeee, pretty please avec une cherry on top!_

_Anyway, grovelling over. You know what to do. (sounds like the Mafia) Lol._

_I'll update soon, I hope!_


	6. Chapter 6 The Spider

**Disclaimer:** As per, I don't own Harry, or anyone from the books. As distressing as it is…..

**To my reviewers:** _Thanks so much for reviewing! It's great to log on and see all the comments. Merci beaucoup! _

**Datswatutink:** _Thank you muchly!_

**Katie**_ It's hard to write it from someone else's point of view, but I think it worked! (well, I hope, lol)_

**Gryffens: **_I do think being sweet is a compliment! That's what I aim for, I'm not about making it depressing, so I'm gonna try to keep as much of it light, until obviously bad things happen…booo…_

**Mrs Pierre Bouvier: **_I know, how cute are they? That's why I had to write a fic!_

**TheSarcasticLadyofRohan: **_Don't worry, I'll still be thinking about it while I'm in Spain, and I'll update when I get back!_

**Cheesekakke: **_Thank you so much! Lol, I didn't even plan the she-wolf thing, it just kinda happened….as for updating, I do try but it'll get harder once I go back to_ _university!_

**Flights of Fantasy: **_Who is your favourite couple then? I love Lupin and Tonks, but I'm also a total Ron/Hermione person!_

**Darra Lupin: **_Like I said, that wolf-girl thing was totally random….lol_

**Dreamy-crazygirl:** _You're one of my loyal reviewers! Thank you soooo much! –grins- I'm glad you like the cuteness, I'm a total fluff machine, but I'll try to keep it above gag level. Hehe._

**Knowregrets:** _That's the plan, yeah. And then take it on after the 6th book. If all goes to plan, that is!_

**Mara:** _Another faithful reviewer, well, I got more reviews after that chapter, so that's good. Still….want…more….-twitches- lol_

_Anyway, I'll put my own wee comments on the end. On with the tale!_

**Chapter 6 – The Spider**

The next week or so in Grimmauld Place weren't all that exciting. When the Order weren't having meetings or engaging in guard duty at the Ministry of Magic, they were taking part in another very important task – The Headquarters clean up. Needless to say, some were more enthusiastic that others.

'Right everyone! Got your Doxycide? Let's get cracking! There are still three more rooms to do before lunch!'

Molly Weasley's voice echoed though the gloomy corridors of the House of Black, causing Tonks to break out of the half asleep daze she was in. She was supposed to be poring over a map of the Department of Mysteries, but, having been on guard duty the night before, she was finding it extremely hard to concentrate.

With a creak, the door to the dining room where she was sitting opened, and a yawning Sirius wandered in, stretching.

'Good sleep! How're you this morning, Tonks?'

Tonks just shot him a look.

'Do me a favour, oh cousin of mine? Don't come in here telling me about your wonderful sleep when I've been up all night…'

'Hey, at least you're actually doing something productive for the Order! I might get to sleep in but that's not going to help Ha-'

He was cut short by Harry himself, peeking his head round the edge of the thick wooden door, hair full of dust.

'Hey Sirius. Want to help us with the cleaning? It's not exactly fun, but you can help us with what can be thrown out and what can't….that's what Mrs Weasley says anyway.'

Sirius snorted. 'Hah….I'd be happy to see everything thrown away. Ach, but you're right, I should make myself useful.' He turned to Tonks, who was not-very-subtly covering the maps with her arms, the bags under her eyes very apparent.

'Why don't you go and get some of that Muggle stuff Hermione brought with her? The brown stuff. That'll perk you up! Well, that's what Lupin said; he had some just after the full moon.'

Tonks nodded, exhaustedly, and the other two left, leaving her alone with the plans.

She glanced down at them again, trying to find possible ways in which a Death Eater could get into the Department. But the more she stared at it, the more it just blurred over.

'_Maybe I should get some coffee_,' she mused. '_Dad's a big fan of it…_'

Stretching out her back and rolling her neck to ease it, she stood up, with great effort. '_Jeez, this night shift stuff is exhausting! Or maybe I'm just a lightweight…_'

She gathered up the plans sitting in front of her, glad that Harry seemed to have not noticed them. Dragging her feet, she made her way to the kitchen, where she found Hermione, washing her hands madly.

'Wotcher, Hermione,' smiled Tonks. 'Watcha doing?'

'Ach….that stupid Ronald Weasley managed to spill Doxycide on my hands…..he really is a few bricks short of the load…..'

Tonks burst out laughing. 'A few bricks short of the load? I love it. I'm sure he didn't mean it though.'

Hermione looked at Tonks with a withering expression on her face.

'No, I'm sure he didn't _mean_ it, but that's not the point….'

The older witch smiled to herself. It was quite obvious to her that Hermione and Ron liked each other a lot, but, typically, being teenagers, would rather have their teeth pulled out without magic than admit it.

She shook her head slightly, and then remembered what she was there for.

'Hey, Hermione? You got any of that coffee left? I can hardly keep my eyes open.'

Hermione looked up from her frantic scrubbing, her arms covered in soap suds up to the elbows. She indicated a cupboard in the corner with a dripping hand.

'There should be some in there…unless Professor Lupin finished it all….'

Tonks smirked a little.

'I don't think you really need to call him 'Professor' any more, Hermione.'

Hermione's face reddened, and then she smiled.

'I know, you're right. It's just course of habit, I suppose. Lupin. Lupin. Just _Lupin_.' Hermione had began to sound like she was chanting, and Tonks found herself edging away nervously.

'Who's chanting my name?' came a rather amused voice.

Hermione spun around sending a spray of bubbles onto the floor to see Remus Lupin standing in the doorway looking a little confused.

'Prof…I mean, Lupin! Hi!'

'Hi….have I missed something?' he looking questioningly at Tonks, who laughed out loud.

'I was telling Hermione that she doesn't need to call you Professor anymore, Remus,' she replied with a grin.

He laughed.

'Just as well….being called 'Professor' makes me feel about Dumbledore's age….'

'You've got a while till you're as old as him!'

'Less time than you though.'

'Ah…not that much less. There's life in the old boy yet!' she nudged Remus (who was rolling his eyes) in the ribs and winked at Hermione, who stifled a laugh, not sure whether it would be rude or not.

'Anyway Remus, since you're here, did you finish that coffee?'

'Ah, that Muggle drink thing? No, there should be some left.'

Tonks walked back over to the cupboard and peered inside, before letting out a shriek and jumping back as though she'd been stung.

'Ahhhhh!

Hermione and Lupin both jumped and then stared at Tonks, before Remus ran over next to her.

'What is it? What's wrong?'

Her eyes were wide as saucers, and her finger quivered as she pointed at the open cupboard.

Lupin peered into the dark cupboard and blinked. 'What?'

'Sp…sp…sp…spider….'

'Oh not you too, Tonks. I though Ron was silly enough to be afraid of them. They're generally quite harmless. Unless it's Aragog, of course.'

Lupin raised an eyebrow at the terrified young witch.

'You're not really scared of it, are you? It's only small!'

'I can't help it!' wailed Tonks. 'It's my biggest weakness! I'm terrified of them; they give me the heeby jeebies!'

'Well, this one,' he said, picking up the little spider, 'is probably more scared of you after that squeal than you are of it.'

'I know….it's irrational….but I really can't help it.' She shuddered, eying the beastie in his palm warily.

An evil glint appeared in Remus' eyes. '_Time to get her back for the wolf-girl thing,_' he thought.

'See, it's fine! It's not going to bite you!' He held the spider close to her, but before she could edge away, he let out an 'oops' and her eyes widened at him.

'Oops what!'

'I dropped it….'

'You DROPPED it!'

'Erm….yeah…' he replied sheepishly.

'Eeeeeyyaaaa! Where'd it go! Is it on me! Did it land on me! Get it off! Ahhhh!'

She stomped around in circles, waving her robes madly while flapping her arms.

'Remus! Can you see it? Is it on my robes? Waahaa….'

She threw off her top robe and flapped it about before dropping it on the floor.

'Can you see it? Can you-'

She then realised that both Remus and Hermione were standing laughing.

'What, you mean this?'

Of course, Remus was still holding the spider in his hand, where it was wandering around aimlessly. He grinned at her, and turned to the window to realise the little creature.

'You. Are. Dead!'

'Now now Tonks, lets not resort to violence, I've safely removed the terrifying beast, and now you can get your coffee! No harm done!'

'Hmph.'

Tonks turned her back on Remus, pretending to be in a huff, and started making her coffee. But she couldn't help but feel her heart beating a little faster, and it wasn't through fear…

'Now, I came in here for a reason, other than to terrorise Tonks….ah yes, I need a duster. Molly said I'd find one in here.'

He bent down to rummage in a bottom drawer, and, after a minute or so, returned triumphant with a large feather duster. Tonks immediately spun round and muttered '_rosiacious_' under her breath, her wand hidden from his view. Instantly, the feather duster turned a fetching shade of baby pink.

'Oooh….suits you sir…..hahaha….'

And Tonks, who had by now finished making her coffee, walked smugly out of the kitchen, leaving Remus bemused, and holding the very pretty duster.

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A week later, the mood around the house had become considerably less jovial. It was the day before Harry's hearing with the Ministry of Magic, and, despite everyone's assurances that he would come out fine, there was still an air of tension around.

'They've got nothing on him,' Hermione could be heard whispering to Ron on many occasions. 'You're allowed to use magic in life-threatening situations! And Dementors, well, I think that certainly qualifies as life threatening!'

Ron would nod darkly. 'But you know the Ministry right now; they've got it in for Harry…'

'I know, but don't let Harry hear you say that!'

When night-time eventually came, it was clear that Harry was a nervous wreck. However, Molly Weasley's solution was the same as usual, just go to bed. Unfortunately for Tonks, there would be no bed for her, tonight was her shift at the Department of Mysteries; she wouldn't be back until around 5am. She sighed at the thought, watching wistfully as everyone trudged up the large carpeted stairs to bed.

She wandered into the now deserted kitchen, and crept over to the cupboard where the coffee had been.

'Hope there's no spiders this time,' she shuddered, muttering under her breath. Her mind flew back to the whole incident with Remus and the spider, a smile curling on her lips.

'_He always takes the piss out of me…'_

'_So why do you like it so much?_'

She frowned a little.

'_I like it cause it's funny?_'

'_Liar. You like it cause you like him paying attention to_ _you_'

'_No way! Well, is it that wrong to want a friend to like you?_'

'_Yeah, but you don't just like him!_'

'Ahh! Shut up Tonks. Arguing with yourself is a sign of true madness.'

She groaned as she realised there was no coffee left.

'And I don't fancy Remus, ok? Hmph….'

Funnily enough, the cupboard didn't reply.

'See what you've done? Now I'm talking out loud! And to cupboards! Jeez…it's definitely time to get going….'

Tonks took a deep breath and scrunched her eyes shut. She hated apparating…but at the same time she was too lazy to walk. Plus, it might look a little suspicious, a pink haired young women wandering around the streets at midnight. In fact, she thought, pink's quite conspicuous at any time. Realising this, she scrunched her eyes shut and focused on having blonde curly hair. She reached up and ran a hand through her hair, pleased to feel that it was now suitably curly and down to her shoulders.

She flexed her neck and cracked her fingers to steel herself, before concentrating hard on the door outside the Department of Mysteries.

As usual, just as the odd feeling of apparating seemed to get too much to bear, she was there. The young witch settled herself down in the usual not very comfy position of leaning against the wall.

'_Damn…I should've brought a book or something…now I'm stuck here with only my mad mind for company…hmm…lemme think…erm_..._something safe to think about…_'

She readjusted her position; the floor was hard and cold, and she knew already that she was going to have a really numb butt after this shift.

'_Something safe, something safe…don't think about…well, you know what not to think about…_'

She glanced around the dull corridor; as usual she was the only source of life around. Part of her almost wanted something to happen, just to ease the never-ending boredom, but of course she knew that she didn't _really_ want that. Tonks' mind began to wander as she sat on the cold floor – what must it be like to work here?

She knew about the Unspeakables, but because they were just that – Unspeakable – she didn't know much.

'_It's much more interesting working in the Auror's office_,' she mused. Well, it could be, at times. It certainly would be if Rufus Scrimgeour would give her more to do than just paperwork. Mind you, he'd been speaking to her a lot more recently, and Kingsley too, for that matter.

She frowned. Neither of them had done anything to arouse his suspicions, not that she could think of. They didn't really talk to each other while at work, expect if it _involved_ work. All the same, she concluded, it was probably best to mention this to someone…

'_Remus, tell Remus! You know you want to!_'

'_Ach, shut up._'

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Five hours later, Tonks had taken to singing through entire Weird Sisters albums in her head to keep herself from falling asleep. When she had reached the chorus of a particularly rocky number ('_Hubble Bubble'_, a rather interesting take on that bit of the Muggle play, 'Macbeth') she glanced down at her watch. The little hand was pointed at the tiny sentence '_Only 5 minutes to go!_' while the large hand pointed to '_Hang in there!_'

'_At last,_' she thought, trying to move some muscles which by this point seemed to have given up on life. By the time she stretched and shoogled and twisted and turned to ease herself off, the little hand was now reading '_Time to go!_' With one final total body stretch, Tonks concentrated on the three D's and returned to Grimmauld Place.

To her surprise, when she reappeared in the kitchen, she wasn't alone. Mr and Mrs Weasley were both standing there, Molly in her dressing gown, along with Sirius and Remus.

'I wasn't expecting a welcoming committee!' stated Tonks, blinking in surprise.

Sirius laughed.

'As popular as you may be Tonks, we're not here for you. Harry'll be getting up soon and it's his hearing today.'

'Oh…of course! Jeez! Are you taking him on the way to work, Arthur?'

Arthur nodded. 'We're walking; don't want to be using magic when that's what he's in trouble for.'

Tonks nodded. That was sensible. However, thinking about work reminded her about Rufus, and how she was going to tell someone.

'Um….' She looked around. Molly was pottering around the kitchen stove, seemly desperate to start making something. Arthur was pacing around the room, clearly on edge, and Sirius didn't look much better. However, Remus seemed to have noticed Tonks' little mumble.

'Anything wrong, Tonks?'

She spun around in surprise that anyone had heard her, least of all Remus, and nearly skidded on the floor in the process. Having steadied herself, she turned to face him, rather red-faced.

'Yeah, well, I had plenty of time to think while I was on my shift there, not exactly exciting stuff you know, sitting there all night, watching the walls,' she said, nervously twirling a strand of blonde hair in her fingers.

'What was I saying… oh yeah! Well, I was thinking about work, seeing as I was at work, well, not really _my_ work but the same building - you know what I mean.' Suddenly the young witch shuddered as a massive yawn escaped her.

'I'm sorry Remus, I'm rambling. My mind's half asleep…I'm not cut out for this night shift stuff!'

He smiled at her warmly. There was something really cute about the way she rambled, but he wasn't about to admit he'd thought that…

'A girl's gotta get her beauty sleep, eh?'

'Something like that,' she nodded, pleased that he didn't seem to think she was a complete idiot.

'Anyway, what I was trying to say extremely badly, is that I think we might need to keep an eye on Rufus Scrimgeour.'

'The head of the Auror office?'

'That's the one, yeah.'

But before she could say anything else, the door opened, and there stood a rather agitated looking Harry.

Molly instantly walked over to Harry, demanding that he had some breakfast. The poor boy looked as though eating was the last thing he could do.

'M – m – morning Harry,' yawned Tonks. 'Sleep all right?'

She really asked it out of courtesy; it was quite clear that he'd been thinking about the hearing the whole time.

'Come and sit down Harry,' she offered, pulling him out a chair and managing to knock over another one in the process. He had barely put his bum on the seat when Molly started accosting him about his breakfast requirements. As he replied to her, Tonks saw Remus glance over at him, obvious concern on his face.

He then turned to Tonks, his expression serious.

'_He looks so cute when he's serious! Gah…illegal thoughts, illegal thoughts…_'

'What was that you were saying about Scrimgeour?'

'Oh…yeah,' she said, recovering quickly. 'Well, I think we need to be a bit more careful, he's been asking Kingsley and me funny questions.'

She tried to think of some examples to give him, but her mind had gone as foggy as the Forbidden Forest. She was sooo tired, and she was meant to have guard duty again that night…

Luckily though, after having brought this up, Arthur Weasley volunteered to do her shift that night.

'Thanks soooo much Arthur,' she said again, as everyone was clearing up from breakfast.

'I'm absolutely knackered!'

She yawned again.

'You're going to start catching flies in there if you don't watch out Tonks!'

She glanced over at the source of the comment, Sirius. Although he was smiling, she could see he was tense, waiting to see how Harry got on. Tonks personally felt very confident that he would be fine, but that was just how she was, an optimistic person.

Feeling her eyes dropping again, she made a decision.

'I'm going to bed; I need to catch up after last night. Promise to wake me as soon as you hear from Harry!'

The group around the table nodded at her, for a split second she met Remus' eyes and she felt her face redden.

'Grow up, Tonks!' she muttered under her breath, before waving briefly and heading up the stairs.

_Well all, that's it for now! I'm off to Spain for month tomorrow; I'm travelling alone, so I'm really nervous! But I'll survive I'm sure. I hope…_

_I've got plenty of ideas for this story, so I totally intend to keep it up when I get back, no worries there! I actually had something planned, but I don't have time for it in this chapter, so it'll need to wait till the next. _

_Anyway, please review, I'm hoping to see loads when I get back! See you all in a month!_

_Alison _


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